Closing out a weekend of art & activism for Creative Time Summit DC: Occupy the Future, we come together in front of the White House (on pedestrian part of Pennsylvania Ave, in front of Peace Tent) to envision representational leadership that seems impossible from where we stand now. Inspired by a 1992 text piece by artist Zoe Leonard and a series of similar readings around the world, I want a president…(a collective reading-DC)has engaged the public in adapting her list of demands to reflect the urgencies of today through in-person workshops and online discussions. On Oct. 16, we will read these two texts in unison, connecting the concerns of the past with the needs of the present, and collectively-voiced desires for an alternate future.

Co-organized by Natalie Campbell & Saisha Grayson, the DC iteration is presented in collaboration with Furthermore with thanks to the following community partners: Anacostia Arts Center, Bread for the City, Creative Time Summit, the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design at The George Washington University, the DC Public Library Foundation, Pleasant Plains Workshop, Potter’s House DC, Transformer, and Visual AIDS.

On 6 May 2015, please join us on the steps of Trafalgar Square (directly outside the National Gallery) at 6.15pm for a 6.30pm start.

We will be reading artist Zoe Leonard’s manifesto “I want a president…” (1992) alongside an updated version for 1 hour, after which we will reconvene in a local park or pub (depending on the weather) to celebrate.

Organised in relation to the exhibition Manifesto Show: Act I, artist Kajsa Dahlberg joined a public discussion focused on a series of collective readings that she has been involved in organising with collaborators Malin Arnell, Johanna Gustavsson and Fia-Stina Sandlund.

The on-going project began as an invitation, circulated by the group amongst their community in Stockholm, asking people to come together to read in unison a text written by Zoe Leonard in 1992. Organised to coincide with 2010 General Election, the reading was a ‘response to an increasingly neoliberal political climate in a country just about to give space in parliament to an upcoming fascist, racist and homophobic party’. It took place in Sergels Torg, a public square with long history of political activity that is situated in the centre of the city. It was never anticipated that the event, which was initiated by the group out of political urgency and not articulated within the context of their artistic practice, would continue to have a life beyond this first iteration. Yet, in response to further invitations from various individuals and institutions, the readings have subsequently happened in various centres across Europe.

The conversation between Dahlberg and UK based curator Laura Guy coincided with both the Swedish General Election and an important referendum, to establish the independence of Scotland, in the UK. It was motivated by a desire for a reading to take place in the UK in relation to the forthcoming General Election in 2015.

In dialogue with the themes of the exhibition, the event will attempt to unpack the project in relation to ideas of translation, temporality, feminist collectivity and forms of political speech.